Saturday, September 29, 2018

The PBC on FS1 will air live this Sunday, September 30, 2018
from the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California. The original card
was scheduled to be headlined by what fight fans eagerly anticipated would be
an absolute war between Victor Ortiz and gritty ring veteran John Molina Jr. Unfortunately,
the fight was canceled Wednesday after Ortiz turned himself in to the Oxnard
Police Department as a result of a warrant that was issued for his arrest citing
three counts of felony sexual assault. Attempts were made to find a suitable
substitution to fight Molina, however, these efforts proved to be fruitless on
such short notice. This becomes a disappointing situation for Molina who
reportedly held one of his toughest training camps in recent memory with hopes
of attaining a victory that would propel him back into potential title
contention.

The removal of the Ortiz vs. Molina showdown now clears the
way for featherweight contenders Brandon Figueroa (16-0-0, 11 KOs) and Oscar
Escandon (25-4-0, 17 KOs) to take center stage in the main event of the
evening. This ten round attraction will be Figueroa’s longest scheduled bout to
date and his third fight of 2018. Figueroa last stepped into the square circle
on August 4 when he defeated Luis Roy Suarez Cruz by first round TKO. Oscar
Escandon has not tasted victory since he became interim WBC World Featherweight
Champion after he scored a seventh round KO on Robinson Castellanos back in
March of 2016. Since then, he has suffered consecutive setbacks to Gary Russell
Jr. in May 2017 by seventh round TKO and Tugstsogt Nyambayar in May 2018 by
third round KO.

Another interesting bout on the card that has flown under
the radar, and is oddly scheduled for only eight rounds, features super
middleweight contender James DeGale (24-2-1, 14 KOs) squaring off with Fidel
Monterrosa Munoz (39-18-1, 31 KOs). DeGale enters this contest on the heels of a
unanimous decision victory over Caleb Truax in April 2018. This victory,
however, was preceded by a string of tough luck that saw him lose a majority
decision to Truax in December 2017 and fight to a majority draw with another
top contender in Badou Jack back in January 2017. Hopefully for DeGale, this
fight will end up being the tune-up it appears to be on paper because he is
seemingly already in the crosshairs of Chris Eubank Jr. for a showdown later
this year after Eubank’s opponent, JJ McDonagh, quit on the stool prior to round
four Friday evening.

Be sure to follow The Weigh-In: Your Home For Combat Sports
this Sunday for ringside coverage and results from this intriguing PBC on FS1
card!